» Posts Tagged ‘screenwriting’
Stop Staring at the Blank Page: How Creativity Works in Our Minds
Every screenwriter gets stuck. Some call it writer’s block. Others don’t believe writer’s block exists. Either way, every writer runs into a problem that stops the writing process cold. Then despair sets in. Usually. Science, however, now tells us this obstacle is a good thing. In fact, it is essential in the creative process for the mind to have a breakthrough.
Jonah Lehrer, a contributing Editor at Wired Magazine and frequent contributor to The New Yorker, recently published a book called Imagine: How Creativity Works, in which he describes how scientists have studied how the brain works when we engage in the creative process. Lehrer recently recorded an interview with Steve Paulson for the radio program To the Best of Our Knowledge where he summarizes how creativity works in our minds. You can listen to the interview here: More »
Ted Griffin had no idea his script for Ocean’s Eleven was really about a guy using an elaborate heist just to show his ex-wife he still loved her until he reached page 100 in his writing process. Callie Khouri actually would have killed a dirty old man who shouted obscenities at her from a car if she only had a gun at that moment, so instead she used it as inspiration for Thelma and Louise. Jim Uhls breaks the first rule of Fight Club: he talks about Fight Club. To hear each of these writers talk about their writing process in their own words, check out their videos from The Dialogue Series below: More »
As screenwriters, we spend a lot of time writing, re-writing, and obsessing over dialogue. Let’s face it — the audience won’t read the amazing writing of our action sequences, but they will certainly hear our pithy dialogue. But do each of our characters have a unique voice? Thanks to the ongoing generosity of John August and Craig Mazin, their most recent Scriptnotes podcast provides five tests to see whether a character’s voice is working. See the five tests from the podcast below and my personal take on each: More »
Austin Film Festival Screenplay & Teleplay Competition Deadlines Approach
Have you already submitted your polished script to the Nicholl Fellowship? Did you miss that May 1 deadline and wish you had a few more days and another chance? Then you should consider submitting to the Austin Film Festival Screenplay & Teleplay Competition. Screenplay awards for Drama and Comedy category each include $5,000 plus reimbursement for round-trip airfare (up to $500) and hotel (up to $500) for the conference and festival. Teleplay awards for Sitcom Spec, One-Hour Spec, Sitcom Pilot and One-Hour Pilot each include $1,000, plus reimbursement for round-trip airfare (up to $500) and hotel (up to $500) for the conference and festival. More »
Adobe Story Plus Stretches Creative Cloud from Pre-Production to Post-Production
Adobe has been wooing screenwriters with its free Story online screenwriting software, and now it’s pushing to make Story the first step in its pre-production to post-production solution. With the Creative Cloud scheduled to launch May 11th for Adobe Creative Suite 6, Adobe has added new features and functionality to Story, now splitting the product between Story Free and Story Plus. Story Free remains the in-the-cloud version of the screenwriting app that Adobe previously released, while for a subscription of $15/month or as part of a Creative Cloud subscription, CS6 users get access to Story Plus. Advantages of Story Plus over Story Free include: More »
'The hardest part is dealing with failure' - Academy Screenwriters Discuss Their Craft
What are the highs and lows of being a screenwriter? What kind of misconceptions do people have about screenwriting? How do you find your voice in an assignment or get through writer’s block? Academy screenwriters offer their views on these questions and more in this interesting six part video-series at the Academy of Motion Pictures and Sciences website. With screenwriters like John August (Big Fish, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory), Lawrence Kasdan (Raiders of the Lost Ark, Body Heat), and Marc Norman (Shakespeare in Love) sharing their thoughts, there’s lots of great food for thought: More »
This story got swallowed up by all of the recent NAB coverage, but I think it’s very important. Much has been said here about Amazon Studios, but it quickly became clear that it was not designed to help independent filmmakers, especially those without any ties to the industry. By industry standards, the terms that Amazon Studios were giving to writers was almost laughable. For 18 months Amazon had a free option on your script. No protection at all. All of the other positives of the initiative go out the window when you lose your script for that long without any option to do anything else with it. But Amazon has changed their mind and has decided to give some fair terms to those who submit scripts. More »
It’s the first day of April, and that can mean only one thing for those of us procrastinating on our writing — it’s Script Frenzy time. Script Frenzy is the annual script writing event that challenges writers to crank out 100 pages worth of script in 30 days. The prize? The sweet, sweet satisfaction of actually having knocked something out in a month. Here’s how it works: More »
It might go without saying (even though it doesn’t make it any easier), but the best way to find yourself chumming it up with Hollywood big wigs is to write a great script. In these camera obsessed times (me included) it’s easy to lose sight of the fact that the script is the most important piece of any film. The story and the characters are the foundation for the film, and without them, there’s nothing for the pretty pictures to stand on. Pixar knows this, that’s why they’ve been so successful. The reason you’ve seen so much of myself and E.M. on this site is because Koo is already living by this very idea (the script matters). So if you’re looking to break into the industry, a great script could be your ticket. More »
With one of the best critical and commercial records in movie-making history, there are a lot of things Pixar does right. One of their greatest strengths is their ability to consistently craft great stories. So what’s the Pixar story development process like, and what can we as independent filmmakers learn from it? As part of a 5 part interview, Mary Coleman, a Pixar senior development executive, shares details about how it all comes together — revealing some surprising and enlightening things: More »
For screenwriting, I’ve been a long-time Final Draft user, but I’ve never been a huge fan. It’s like the Microsoft Word of screenwriting software — ubiquitous and adequate, but not something you’re particularly excited about. I’ve been using it since Version 4, and it has definitely improved since then, but for a $250 program I’ve never felt that it has evolved as much as I’d like. What am I looking for? More structuring and outlining tools. This is where Movie Draft comes in. Note that it’s Mac only available for Mac, Windows, and Linux, it’s rated nearly 5 stars in the Mac App Store, and it only costs $30. More »
Get Industry Attention with the 2012 Nicholl Screenwriting Fellowships and Two Other Competitions
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences is kind of a big deal – and if you’ve never heard of the Nicholl Screenwriting Fellowships, it’s a life-changing opportunity to write a script and win a grant. We’ve also go two other fantastic opportunities for script writers: Scriptapalooza and the Nantucket Film Festival Showtime Tony Cox Screenplay Competition. That’s a mouthful, but let’s see what’s so special about these competitions. More »
With Chronicle recently topping its opening weekend, the debut of The River on ABC, and various found footage concepts in development, it’s no surprise many folks are asking – what’s behind the popularity of found footage? So I was particularly interested to read what screenwriter John Swetnam, who sold two found footage (FF) spec scripts in 2011, had to say on the question – while pondering the larger lessons that could be drawn from it. More »
Hot on the heels of Fountain, a screenwriting tool that could become a standard, John August has announced “Highland,” a Mac app that takes the headaches out of screenwriting file types. Though it’s still in beta, Highland could become the go-to app for converting between Fountain, Final Draft, and PDF. I’ll let John explain in this walk-through video: More »
Writing a script on the go has been hit-or-miss. Final Draft still does not have a dedicated screenwriting application on any mobile device (though a reader exists). If you’ve been looking for an easy way to write a script on your phone or tablet and quickly take it to your desktop – and vice versa – then John August and Stu Maschwitz may have created just what you’re looking for with the introduction of Fountain: More »
Shawn Ryan, creator of The Shield and now The Chicago Code, is probably the best-known filmmaker to graduate from my alma mater, Middlebury College. Shawn broke into the industry after writing “thirteen or fourteen spec scripts,” a testament to his drive as a writer. In a pair of interviews I found myself reading and watching recently, Shawn gives excellent advice for aspiring writers. The first interview is actually by a classmate of mine, Astri von Arbin Ahlander conducted by Evan Dumouchel, who asked Shawn, “What advice would you give to young people as they develop their craft?”: More »
Screenwriter John August, whose blog is already a treasure trove of valuable information for screenwriters, has launched a new site compiled from his Q&As over the years. Whereas his blog is just that — a blog, arranged in reverse chronological order — the new site, Screenwriting.io, is designed to do one thing: automated Q&A. In John’s words, “there’s a need for high-quality answers to basic screenwriting questions.” The site is currently in beta and is looking for feedback, so go try it out and let ‘em know what you think!
Link: Screenwriting.io
Upstart Screenwriting Application Movie Draft Looks Promising
First of all, industry standard screenwriting software Final Draft is $70 off until Sept 30. But thanks to @navesink on Twitter, I found out about a new screenwriting program that brings some appealing changes to the table. Movie Draft SE is available through the Mac App Store for just $30 (“for a limited time,” though I don’t know how limited of a time we’re talking) with some very promising features. It’s also available for Windows and Linux. Chiefly I’m interested in the modularity of the scenes and the navigation sidebar, as demonstrated in this video: More »
My screenplay for Man-child (the project I’m currently trying to get funded with your help!) is one of twenty scripts that will be participating in IFP’s Emerging Narrative program a month from now. Put simply, Emerging Narrative is a program for screenwriters looking for a producer — a situation that many screenwriters and writer/directors find themselves in. Whether you’re participating in a program like Emerging Narrative or not, one way of helping producers better understand your project is to bring additional materials to the table besides your script. These materials might include a sample of a previous work you directed, another writing sample, test footage, a spec trailer, or a lookbook. A lookbook is a collection of stills culled from a variety of sources (not necessarily images you shot yourself) that convey what you want your movie to look like. Instead of using still images as is typical, however, I decided to make a multimedia lookbook: a collage of film and TV clips that demonstrate the aesthetic of Man-child. I hadn’t seen this done before, so I cut together clips from over a dozen films, and paired the visuals with a voiceover about some of the more technical aspects of Man-child — including what camera I’d like to shoot the film on, and a particular kind of camera stabilizer I’m planning on utilizing: More »
In 2003 AMC aired, as part of a series of docs about movie production, an hourlong episode entitled “Malkovich’s Mail.” Screenwriters all across the country were submitting unsolicited material to Mr. Mudd, a production company John Malkovich was associated with, and the doc is a look behind the curtain at what happens to the vast majority of these submissions. The doc walks a fine line between making fun of crazy screenwriters and sentimentalizing the pursuit, but ultimately finds a way to bring the viewer (and the screenwriters portrayed) a sense of satisfaction. All five parts of the doc are embedded below. I discovered the show via the excellent Filmmaker newsletter, where editor Scott Macaulay observes better than I can: More »
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